The Indians signed pitcher Marc Rzepczynski to a one-year contract on Friday, the day all players who filed for arbitration exchanged salary figures with their teams.
The Indians avoided arbitration with Rzepczynski by signing him to a one-year, $1.375 million deal, but the four other players eligible for arbitration submitted their salary figures: Michael Brantley, Justin Masterson, Vinnie Pestano and Josh Tomlin.
Rzepczynski, acquired from St. Louis in a midseason trade last year, was the Indiansí most effective reliever in the second half of the season. In 27 appearances, he had a 0.89 ERA, averaging one strikeout per inning and holding opposing batters to a .159 batting average. Left-handed batters hit .128 vs. the left-hander. The 28-year-old Rzepczynski made $1.1 million last year.
Itís been over 20 years since an Indiansí arbitration case made it all the way to a hearing, and that streak figures to remain intact this year, but the Masterson case should be an interesting one. Masterson is seeking $11.8 million through arbitration while the Indians have offered $8.05 million. That puts the midpoint at $9.925 million, which should be close to the eventual compromise figure. Last year, he made $5,687,500.
The big right-hander was recently voted the Indiansí Man of the Year by the Cleveland baseball writers, and he was selected to the American League All-Star team last season for the first time in his career.
Although he missed virtually all of the month of September with a strained rib cage, Masterson won a career-high 14 games, going 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA. At 28, Masterson is in the prime of his career and he can become a free agent after the 2014 season.
The Indians have held exploratory talks with Masterson on a contract extension, but if nothing gets done by the start of the regular season, it seems likely Masterson would be inclined to play out the season and see what his value would be in the free-agent market next winter.
The Indians have not signed a starting pitcher to a multi-year contract extension prior to his free-agent year since Jake Westbrook signed a three-year, $33 million deal after the 2007 season.
Brantley, who is all the Indians have to show for the CC Sabathia trade of 2008, has been one of the clubís most consistent performers the last two years. In 2013, the 26-year-old outfielder had career highs in batting average (a team-leading .284), runs (66), home runs (10), RBI (73) and stolen bases (17). He also led the team with a .375 batting average with runners in scoring position and broke Rocky Colavitoís 47-year-old Indians record for most consecutive errorless games. Brantley will enter the 2014 season with a streak of 245 consecutive errorless games.
Brantley made $526,900 last year. MLBtraderumors.com projects his 2014 arbitration salary to be $3.7 million.
Pestano had a disastrous 2014 season after being one of the top bullpen setup men in the American League the previous two years. Pestano, who will turn 29 next month, was 1-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 37 relief appearances last year, most of those in the first half of the season. He spent most of the second half of the season in the minor leagues.
Pestantoís salary last year was $501,000. He has filed for arbitration at $1.45 million while the Indians have offered $975,000. The midpoint there would be $1.212 million.
Tomlin, 29, will go to spring training as a leading candidate for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, should the Indians not add another starting pitcher. He spent most of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, appearing in eight minor-league games and making one relief appearance with the Tribe in September.
In 2011, his last healthy season, Tomlin tied for the team lead in victories, going 12-7 with a 4.56 ERA. He made $501,800 last year and MLBtraderumors.com projects him to be at $1.1 million this year.
Teams are still free to negotiate with their arbitration players, and almost all cases get settled with the two sides compromising at a midpoint figure. If not, itís off to the arbitration hearings, where the arbitrator listens to the arguments on both sides and then rules in favor of the playerís or teamís figure. The hearings will occur during the first three weeks of February. The Indians havenít gone to an arbitration hearing with a player since 1991.